In a potential legal coup for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac shareholders, Federal Claims Court Judge Margaret Sweeney ordered the U.S. Treasury Department and Federal Housing Finance Agency to turn over another large batch of documents in relation to the Fairholme Funds Inc. v. United States, et al. net worth sweep case. Sweeney this week forced the government agencies to produce more documents, close to 60 this time, for the plaintiff’s attorneys. The agencies have attempted to keep the various memos, emails, presentations and other communications hidden under executive privilege. Shareholders say...
There have been a number of MBS issuers that have fallen short of Ginnie Mae’s strict liquidity and net worth requirements for all participants, but tighter oversight has cured most, if not of all of the cases, according to Ginnie’s top counterparty risk chief. Speaking this week at the annual Ginnie Mae summit in Washington, DC, Zack Skochko, director of counterparty risk, said several issuers have failed liquidity audits in 2016 by not maintaining the minimum $1 million cash or 10 basis points of outstanding Ginnie securities required to participate in the agency’s MBS program. The agency also requires...
As the third quarter draws to a close without a single increase in interest rates from the Federal Reserve, 2016 is increasingly looking like 2015, when the Fed said it would raise rates multiple times sometime during the year, only to wait until its very last meeting before finally raising them. Similarly, the U.S. central bank said it would raise rates four times in 2016, and so far, it has yet to raise rates once this year. This week, Fed Chair Janet Yellen explicitly stated she expects a rate increase this year, as do a majority of voting members of the Fed’s Open Market Committee. However, since they decided to take a pass this time around, the Fed only has...
JPMorgan Chase is set to end another lull in the issuance of jumbo mortgage-backed securities. The $395.40 million JPMorgan Mortgage Trust 2016-3 is scheduled to be issued next week, according to a presale report from Fitch Ratings. The most recently issued jumbo MBS priced in mid-August and was also from Chase. Only two firms with active conduits have issued jumbo MBS this year: Chase and Redwood Trust. Two Harbors Investment and WinWater Home Mortgage issued ...
Originations of interest-only mortgages increased significantly in the second quarter of 2016, particularly at PHH Mortgage, according to a new ranking by Inside Nonconforming Markets. A group of 12 lenders had $12.65 billion in IO originations in the second quarter, up 44.7 percent compared with the previous quarter. A large amount of the increase in volume was driven by PHH, which more than doubled its IO originations in that span. PHH had $6.25 billion ... [Includes one data chart]
The nonprime mortgage-backed security issued last week by Lone Star Funds priced at tighter spreads than the deal the company issued in June, indicating increased demand among investors. The $217.00 million COLT 2016-2 was also larger than the previous $161.40 million deal from Lone Star. According to Deutsche Bank Securities, spreads of A-1 tranche and A-2 tranche in COLT 2016-2 were respectively priced at 130 basis points and 175 bps, significantly tighter than ...
An investor-led group of participants in the non-agency mortgage-backed security market released a sample deal-agent agreement last week. The investors said the agreement can help reform non-agency MBS practices and increase issuance. Some investors have balked at buying new non-agency MBS until significant reforms are put in place. As early as July 2008, the American Securitization Forum started work on reforming the market and the Structured Finance Industry Group ...
Originations of non-qualified mortgages could reach $100.0 billion a year, according to officials at three prominent nonprime lenders. Since QM standards from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau took effect at the start of 2014, non-QMs such as jumbo mortgages with interest-only terms have predominantly gone to affluent borrowers. However, officials at Angel Oak Mortgage Solutions, Deephaven Mortgage and Citadel Servicing see promise in originations for ...
Sterling Bank & Trust does limited income documentation under its bank statement program but the bank said there have been zero delinquencies on the nearly $1.00 billion in such loans the bank has funded in the past five years. Some $33.2 million in loans from Sterling’s Advantage Home Ownership Program were included in the $217.0 million non-agency mortgage-backed security issued by Lone Star Funds last week. Rating reports on the MBS by DBRS and Fitch Ratings provided ...